Appliance for protecting portions of a shoe during cleaning or polishing



1939. M. M. BRENNAN 2,170,652

APPLIANCE FOR PROTECTING PORTIONS OF A SHCE DURING CLEANING OR POLISHING Filed Sept. 8, 1956 Patented Aug. 22, 1939 UNETED STATES PATENT OFFICE APPLIANCE FOR PROTECTING PORTIONS OF A SHOE DURING CLEANING OR POLISH- ING 5 Claims.

This invention relates to an appliance or a device for protecting the edge of a shoe sole during treatment of the upper part so that this edge will not be soiled by the material being applied to the shoe.

The difliculty of cleaning or polishing whitefinished shoes, or combination colored shoes, is well known. It is undesirable to permit the cleaner or polish to smear the edges of the soles. For the sake of appearance, the edges of the soles are preferably kept black or brown, depending upon the color of the leather trim.

This invention broadly provides a device that may be readily slipped over the edge of the sole to protect it from being soiled by polish applied to the shoe. In its simplest form, this device may be made in the form of a groove strip that is shaped to the shoe and which can be placed about the edge so as to cover it sufficiently to prevent its being soiled while the shoe is being cleaned, polished or treated.

An object of the invention is to provide a device of this type of a material that is readily washable so that it can bethereafter cleaned without difficulty by merely applying water or a cloth thereto.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of this type that can be readily adapted to different shapes and sizes of shoes.

Specifically, these results can be advantageously obtained by forming the device of rubberized material or material of comparable characteristics. In one of its forms, the device may be continued about the heel portion of the shoe in the form of a thin flat strap to protect the sides of the heel and to give sufiicient stretch to the devic as a whole to compensate for different lengths and even widths of shoes. This thin fiat heel strap further serves to hold the device about the edge of the sole.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of this type that may be also used to protect different portions of the upper parts of the shoe during polishing or cleaning in cases where the shoes are patterned in different colors. While patterned combinations have been used, they are generally unpopular because of the difficulty of cleaning. My device may be provided "with parts that can be used to cover portions 1' per face of the sole edge and extend securely inwardly toward the seam between the sole and the uppers so that the polish or cleaner being app-lied cannot possibly be daubed or run upon the face of the sole edge.

Other objects and advantages of the invention 5 will be apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing which forms a part hereof.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a perspective View of one form of the invention, showing how it is applied to the edge of the sole and about the face of theheel of a shoe;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the device shown 7 in Fig. 1; 15

Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken. on line 33 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a slightly modifled form of device embodying the invention;

Fig. 5 is a similar view of a device embodying the invention but of the form that permits protection of different parts of the uppers as Well as the edge of the sole and heel; and

Fig. 6 is a vertical section taken on line B6 of Fig. 1. I 5

In order that the purposes of my invention will be readily comprehended, I have illustrated in Fig. 1 a shoe in dotted lines with a device embodying the invention shown applied thereto. This device preferably comprises a strip I of material that may be molded or otherwise formed to the shape of a shoe sole. If strip I is made of rubberized material, which is preferable so that it may be readily washed or cleaned after each use, this strip may be molded. It will be understood, hcwever, that it is not essential to the invention that strip I be molded.

Strip 5 is grooved at 2 to permit the edge of the shoe sole to slip therein. A bead 3 is formed about the upper part and terminates in a sharply pointed edge 4 adapted to lie in the crevice between the upper face 5 of the sole edge and the upper part of the shoe. If it is desired, bead 3 may reinforce or give suificient rigidity or strength to pointed edge 4 to keep it in place in this crevice or at least to hold it far enough inwardly at the seam between the sole edge and the upper part to prevent the polish or cleaner from being daubed upon or smeared along the upper face 5 of the sole edge. It is customary to finish the sole edge, including the side face and the upper face 5, in black if the entire upper portion of the shoe is white. In the case of combination colors, it is customary to finish the sole'edge in the color of the leather that forms the trim of the shoe. Consequently, if the shoe is being polished or cleaned, it is undesirable for the polish or cleaner to be applied to the upper face 5 or the vertical edge of the sole. Bead 3 may be of sufficient rigidity to keep pointed edge 4 in its place upon upper face 5 of the sole edge. It is desirable, however, to have some resiliency between pointed edge 4 and bead 3 so that the device may be easily slipped over the edge of the sole.

At the juncture of the heel and the edge of the sole, strip l is formed into a thin flat band 5 that extends vertically with respect to strip l. The fiat formation of band 6 allows it to rest firmly against the face of the shoe heel. Usually the upper face 5 of the sole edge is eliminated at the heel. The upper portion of the shoe at the heel is brought down, as illustrated at l2 in Fig. 6, so that the seam is substantially at the edge of the heel to eliminate any horizontal face between the heel and the upper portion of the shoe. It is not essential, therefore, that band 6 be provided with pointed edge 4 to protect the heel at this point. The vertical face of the heel is usually finished the same as the edge of the sole. 7

If the device is made of rubberized material, band 6 may be given sufficient resiliency to permit the device to compensate for different lengths and widths of shoe. Band 6 may be stretched, if need be, so that the device may be adapted to shoes of different sizes. On the other hand, the resiliency of band 6 will hold the device firmly upon the edge of the sole and the heel of the shoe. It will be understood, however, that the material out of which strip 5 is made may give sufiicient resiliency or stretch to strip I so that it is not necessary to rely upon the resiliency of band 6 to adapt the device to different sizes of shoes.

In Fig. 1, I have illustrated the device more or less in slipper form by providing a flat webbing 1 across the bottom of strip l at the'front portion. In certain instances, webbing I may aid-in placing the device about the edge of the sole and the heel. However, substantially the same result can be obtained by means of cross straps 8 shown in Fig. 4.

As previously mentioned, the device may be adapted to protect different parts of the upper portion of a shoe as well as the edges of the sole and the heel. To this end, I have illustrated my device in Fig. 5 provided with a toe portion 9 that may be carried by strip I. If the device is made of rubber, it is apparent that toe portion 9 may be molded as a part of strip l. The device shown in Fig. 5 may be used in cases where'the tip or toe of the shoe is a different color than the middle portion. If the heel part of the shoe is also a different color than the body of the shoe,.band 6 may continue upwardly to form a portion If! that will lie against the heel part of the shoe and protect it from being soiled by the polish or cleaner. Also, in this case, portion It may be molded as a part of band 6 if the device is made of rubber. I do not wish to be limited, however, to employing rubber as the material, because it is obvious that the device may be made of different materials and still accomplish the salne results. Nor do I intend to be limited to a molding operation, because in its essential form the device may be made to lie over the edge'of the sole and the edge of the heel without being in molded form and without necessarily forming groove 2 therein. Moreover, the shape or arrangement of parts like toe 9 and heel 10 may be varied to meet different patterns of shoes.

It will be apparent from the foregoing description that I have provided a very simple and inexpensive form of appliance that may be used to protect the edges of the sole and heel of a shoe while all or part of the upper portion is being cleaned or polished. In the forms shown in the drawing, the device may be readily slipped over the edge of the sole and brought about the edge of the heel so that it will be held as a unit tightly in position. Moreover, band 6 that protects the heel may be very advantageously used as a compensating means for different lengths and widths of shoes so as to allow the device to be readily adapted to different sizes of shoes without requiring making the device in a multitude of sizes and shapes.

Without further elaboration, the foregoing will so fully explain the gist of my invention that others, by applying current knowledge, may readily adopt the same for use under varying conditions of service without eliminating certain features which may properly be said to constitute the essential items of novelty involved, which items are intended to be defined and secured to me by the following claims.

I claim:

1. A device for protecting the upper face of a sole edge during a cleaning or polishing of the uppers of a shoe comprising a grooved flexible member adapted to yieldably fit about the sole edge and cover the upper face thereof, the inner edge of said grooved member being relatively pointed to extend inwardly to the seam between the sole and the uppers Without contacting the uppers to cover or shield any portion thereof, said member being reinforced along its outer edge to hold the inner pointed edge firmly upon the upper face of the sole edge.

2. A device for protecting the upper face of a sole edge during a cleaning or polishing of the uppers of a shoe comprising a grooved flexible member yieldable to be stretched about and cover the edge of a shoe sole, said member having an enlarged rolled edge tapering to a pointed inner edge to form an upper flap that covers the upper face of the sole edge and extends inwardly to the seam between the uppers and the sole without contacting the sides of the uppers to cover or shield the same.

3. A device for protecting the upper face of a sole edge during a cleaning or polishing of the uppers of a shoe comprising a grooved resilient member extending about the edge of the sole and covering the upper face thereof, the edge of said member extending inwardly to the seam between the uppers and the sole without contacting the sides of the uppers to cover or shield the same, said grooved member being reinforced to hold said inwardly extending edge firmly upon the upper face of the sole, and portions coextensive and integral with said member to extend about and cover or shield definite areas of the uppers having a different'surface finish or color than the areas being cleaned or polished.

4. A device of the class described comprising a grooved flexible member adapted to yieldingly fit about the edge of a shoe sole, said member being ,formed into an upper flap-like portion overly ing the upper face of said sole edge, said upper fiap being tapered inwardly from a reinforced bead-like formation to a pointed inner edge 'whereby said upper flap' is self-conforming to and yieldably but tightly held against the upper 75 face of the sole edge to cover the same without contacting the sides of the uppers, and adjustable means extending rearwardly to cover the side of the heel and to retain said member in position about the sole edge.

5. A device for protecting the upper face of a sole edge including the upper face of the instep portion of the sole edge and the exposed vertical face of the heel comprising a grooved resilient strap yieldably fitting about the sole edge and covering the upper face thereof, said strap having a reinforcement of material about its outer edge and tapering inwardly to a pointed edge to form an upper flap that will be held tightly upon the upper face of the sole edge and extend inwardly to the seam between the uppers and the sole without contacting the sides of the uppers to cover or shield the same, the rear ends of said grooved strap terminating into a continuous, substantially thin, resilient and vertically positioned flat band capable of being stretched to pull said grooved strap over and upon the sole edge and be held by its resiliency over and upon the exposed vertical face of the shoe heel.

MARTIN M. BRENNAN. 

